


Wayward

by TinyBat



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Marshal Hansen ships it, domestic pilots, maleigh - Freeform, prompt bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-21 04:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/895872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyBat/pseuds/TinyBat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A baby somehow manages to make it's way to Raleigh's doorstep, he isn't a baby person so it presents a problem. When he has problems he goes to Mako, Mako unfortunately is just as flummoxed as he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wayward

A high pitched and angry squalling woke a seriously uncomfortable Raleigh from a fitful sleep. He'd pulled at least 2 muscles trying to teach Newt to spar and it had been a bigger waste of time than anything else. Newt had the ability to cause himself more harm than anyone else. Raleigh certainly presented a large target but anyone wildly flailing with a bo staff would eventually get lucky. 

The piercing shrieks were coming from the small alcove outside his door, shuffling and limping across the room the door opened to the sight of a small infant swaddled in a discarded deck crew uniform. It looked relatively unharmed but very definitely displeased with it's situation. Dumbfounded, Raleigh picked the squalling newborn up and held it like a live bomb. He hadn't been anywhere near a baby since his sister had been born.

Bringing the little thing inside, he quickly found a cardboard box, stuck a stray pillow in it and stuffed one of his sweaters on top. Raleigh laid the infant down in the makeshift crib and folded his arms, looking down at the baby with no real plan.

"So, I don't know where you came from but I guess someone wanted you to stick by me for a little while. The thing is, i'm not great with babies. Since you really only seem capable of crying and waving your arms, I don't think you'll be too useful on the telling me where you're from front." Raleigh shifted uneasily as the baby squirmed and kicked in its hastily re-purposed jacket. The baby continued its air raid siren rivaling screams until he bent down stiffly and picked it up again. The cries ceased when Raleigh situated the baby against his broad shoulder, gently patting and rubbing the little thing's back; vaguely recalling his mother doing the same for his sister. The baby responded by vomiting slimy, white mucus and god knows what else down the back of his shirt. Raleigh let out a heartfelt groan, and placed the baby down gently on his bed, quickly discarding his shirt and glaring accusingly at the child.

"That was my last shirt kiddo. Now I have to do laundry. You're kinda small for that too. Whatever. Let's go find Mako. She's pretty on top of everything here so maybe she knows where you came from. Do me a favor and don't puke on her either. It might ruin her hair. She just re-dyed it."

Staring at the small mountain of dirty laundry, he shrugged and picked up the baby in his arms again. Mako probably didn't care if he didn't have a shirt on. He definitely didn't mind not wearing one around her. He strolled out of his quarters, pulling the door shut behind him and crossing over to Mako's door.

"Incoming kaiju! Open up Mako!" He knocked, and listened for the sound of her bare feet padding across the floor. She opened the door wearing sweatpants that were much too big for her and her sparring shirt. She looked questioningly at the newborn in his arms and moved to let him inside.

"Is there a reasonable explanation for you holding a baby? I know for a fact that it isn't yours." She gestured for Raleigh to sit and he gingerly made his way over to a chair and carefully re-situated the baby so it lay comfortably against him.

"Would you believe me if I said that it just sort of showed up? Someone left it at my doorstep. Do you know if any of the female deck crew have delivered recently? I don't do the whole baby thing. They're like tiny drunk people and i'm awful with drunk people too." Raleigh chuckled, gently rocking the infant as he remembered pulling a stumbling Yancy out of a bar only to have Yancy get sick all over Raleigh's boots. While Yancy had stuck around, Raleigh ditched the boots in an overflowing trashcan.

Mako shook her head, her lips pursed and brow furrowed in a look of concentration Raleigh adored. She was usually contemplating elaborate acts of violence or filing paperwork when her face held that expression.

"I could believe it, as the restoration efforts seem to have caused a sudden surge in reproductions. Why anyone would leave you with a baby is beyond me though. As for recent births, I can't seem to recall any but the Marshal is made aware of any births on base to consider space constraints. He'll know and the medical staff won't willingly divulge patient information." Raleigh stuck his tongue out at her and zoomed the baby around in the air, making airplane noises. He hopped up and flew the laughing baby over toward a less than enthused Mako, waving the baby's tiny hands at her and emitting a poor approximation of Gipsy Danger's plasma cannon booms. The corner of Mako's mouth quirked up in a smile and waved back, wiggling her fingers and holding her arms out for Raleigh to pass the child over.

"Who do you belong to, little one?" Mako nuzzled the smiling baby's forehead and cuddled it close to her. She hadn't had much experience with infants on a whole, only a handful of babies had been born in the Shatterdome and before that, babies weren't a feature of her life at all. This one was adorable, she was at least 50% sure that it was a byproduct of having spent any time around Raleigh though. The baby's chubby hands pressed gently against her cheeks and lips and she kissed the tiny fingers, listening to the laughter peal through the room like bells. Raleigh looked at the two of them like he'd never seen anything more wonderful. It filled her chest with something akin to sunshine and suddenly she felt less than willing to give the baby back.

The baby squealed in delight and turned back, wiggling its little arms toward Raleigh who swooped it up in his toned arms. Mako had been so preoccupied with the mystery baby that she hadn't noticed the absence of Raleigh's shirt. She'd become quite skilled at not staring, though when he caught her he always flashed an impish grin that she absolutely loved. She quirked a brow at him and tilted her head, she didn't need to say anything. 

"This one puked on me. I need to do laundry. Though if i'm really that painful to look at i'll go grab a sweater." He gave her a megawatt smile and hugged the baby to him, crashing down onto Mako's bed, making the baby laugh again. Mako plunked down next to him and watched the baby smile and take in the room around them. Raleigh curled up, leaning back against the wall and Mako settled in against his side, yawning softly and offering her finger for the baby to play with.

Raleigh saw her yawning and smiled down at the equally tired baby. "Uh oh munchkin, looks like Miss Mori needs a nap. Speaking of naps, you woke me up from mine. So the solution to that is to nap here. The only rules are No Crying, No Puking, and No Pulling Mako's hair. 'Kay?" He planted a kiss on top of the baby's head and it gurgled in reply. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Raleigh made himself even further at home and closed his eyes, falling asleep in under a minute. Mako and the baby followed not long after. Mako and Raleigh were used to napping together, they'd been more than a little beaten up after being rescued and it had started in the medical bay. It had become a habit neither minded so when Raleigh stumbled into Mako's room after overtaxing himself on the deck she wasn't bothered and when she collapsed on his bed after an excruciating day of organizing the restoration efforts he simply moved over.

A series of loud thuds woke the three of them two hours later and an amused voice called through the doorway. "Mori, Becket! You're being relieved of duty! Open up!" Mako uncurled and opened the door to find a smiling Marshal Hansen leaning on the frame. 

"Marshal Hansen? Can we help you?" Mako blinked sleepily and allowed the man to enter and cross to where Raleigh was standing with the baby. He gently lifted the baby out of Raleigh's arms and grinned. The baby smiled hugely and clapped its tiny hands together.

"You already did. This is my nephew Clark. My sister is helping with the downtown Hong Kong clean up efforts and left him with me for the day. I couldn't find anyone to watch him, so I figured you two were the next best thing to actual parents." Clark gurgled and laughed, nuzzling into his uncle's shoulder. The Marshal saluted and sauntered out with Clark peeking up at the two pilots over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry but did he just make us babysit for him?" Raleigh looked incredulous and slightly upset, he liked Clark when he wasn't crying or getting sick on his clean shirts, so having him go was troubling to his normally sunny disposition.

"It appears so. I certainly wouldn't mind doing so again though. I don't know many babies." Mako sat back down on her bed and motioned for Raleigh to join her. He flopped down unceremoniously, pulling her small frame against him and shut his eyes. They could figure out how to steal the baby away later. It was nap time for the adults again, heroism and baby sitting were tiring.


End file.
